Dear Editor,
If rejecting envoys ever became an Olympic sport, the ‘government’ in Zimbabwe would have few rivals for the gold. The news that this ‘government’ has refused to grant visas to the three Elders, Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter and Graca Machel, comes as no surprise. There are a lot of crimes against humanity to be hidden in Zimbabwe, which is the reason why envoys are not a welcome ‘species.’ But here is a situation that can no longer be hidden.
Harare has said that the Elders need to come at a “convenient time.” People are dying of hunger, of cholera and other readily curable diseases, yet Harare claims a postponement of such a vital assessment of the “escalating humanitarian crisis” is necessary. What the ‘government’ assumes to be a “convenient” time agreed to by both sides takes no consideration of dying people. Such a government is worse than two devils.
The argument that the group is made of personalities deemed hostile to Zimbabwe is only a manifestation of the fear of exposure. If the Zimbabwe government is being transparent about the humanitarian situation in the country, then why should they be afraid? They set up a straw-man by referring to Desmond Tutu, an Elder critical of Mugabe, but who is not a part of the ill-fated delegation. The Zimbabwe government accuses the delegation of Elders as being made up of personalities plotting regime change. Does this government think that it is infallible and should not be subject to criticism? Any representations to the Zimbabwe ‘government’ for the cause of justice are viewed as lacking impartiality. The mission of the Elders is for the well-being of the Zimbabwe population. The claims that Kofi Annan’s team comes with a hidden agenda, as was the suspicion against Anna Tibaijika in 2005, is hollow, and shows clearly that the Mugabe administration has skeletons to hide.
The information minister’s claims that Harare is busy with agricultural activities, inter-party talks and end of year programmes is but a lame excuse. This is meant to divert the eminent Elders from exposing the damage done in Zimbabwe. Mugabe is a man with no feelings. It beats all reasoning that his ‘government’ desires to hide the suffering in Zimbabwe under the pretext of being preoccupied with agricultural preparations and inter-party negotiations. South Africa has just withdrawn aid to Zimbabwe until the formation of a legitimate government, which to Mugabe is a game of non-equals. Mugabe continues to shift the goalposts in the middle of the game. He is like a well that has run dry, and no longer has the moral authority to rule the country. Apparently, his fears are genuine – possible prosecution and incarceration for the horrible crimes he has committed over the years may await him.
His many acolytes must answer for the deaths of thousands of Zimbabweans from the terrible threesome of famine, cholera, and HIV/AIDS. Thousands of people died during Gukurahundi; more than a million were displaced by the twin evils dubbed farm invasions and Operation Murambatsvina; whilst dozens to hundreds more disappeared without trace, thanks to the mandarins at the President’s Department, the feared CIO. This ‘government’ must also answer for the displacement of millions of Zimbabweans, the majority of whom are political and economic refugees in neighbouring countries and elsewhere. This government must answer for the destruction of property and families. Let it be clear that it will not be business as usual when a new leadership and government takes over. Mugabe is afraid. He will be held accountable for whatever has befallen the country. Such fears have driven him to employ force to remain at the helm of the collapsing nation. But the fears of Mugabe and company should not be allowed to hold at bay the march to a better Zimbabwe.
A revolution for change must begin by Zimbabweans transforming themselves into a people ready for a new dispensation. Active participation is already spreading in Zimbabwe and beyond the borders. People have suffered enough. Calls for a revolution have been made previously, but the people’s response was lukewarm. The final push could have come about long ago if the majority of people had actively participated. Many preferred the passive involvement of five-year terms and embraced the ‘one-minute democracy’ of the ballot box which Mugabe has exploited with shameful abandon, leading to the current predicament. There is need to get involved in organized protests. The NCA initiative for a weekly ‘stay away’ needs to be supported, even if it means risking life and limb. Mugabe and his henchmen should be removed to save the nation. And the time is now. The police, the army and the youth militia have been used and will be used to divide and rule. If allowed to continue, the official thuggery in Zimbabwe could turn the country into fiefdoms of warlords such as those which prevail in Somalia. Mugabe has turned brother against brother, son against father, mother against daughter to the detriment of the whole nation. However, the majority, who for a long time have chosen to be silent spectators on the terraces now realize that their participation and active involvement in the game is the only way to liberate the nation. This is the moment. This is a clarion call for action. The regional community, for long skeptical that a revolutionary Zanu PF can go astray, is beginning to embrace sympathy for the people of Zimbabwe. Some have even moved from mere sympathy to being materially supportive in their words and actions. The international community is horrified by the actions and inaction of the Zimbabwe regime. But the people of Zimbabwe need to play their own part. Being at the forefront of the struggle for their emancipation, they need to play their own role. They have done so several times in the past and can do so again. Those of Zimbabwe’s citizenry who were too comfortable to be distracted by the siren of suffering in the country realize now that they are not too far from suffering themselves.
Many in the region still glorify the rhetoric of Mugabe when he talked at international summits of regional unity, Pan-Africanism, anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism. But the reality of what his government represents is too obvious to smother with populist talk. The region’s soft voice approach is finding criticism from within, and support for Mugabe’s rhetoric is turning into support for treachery, betrayal and generalized failure.
The Elders are a part of the international community’s support for the cause of a new Zimbabwe. Unless one chooses neither to see nor hear, the dire humanitarian situation is all too evident, even without entering Zimbabwe. Emaciated, cholera-ridden people crawling across the Zimbabwe-South Africa border to seek rehydration therapy at Musina is evidence that cannot be hidden by denying visas to a three-person delegation to Harare. Few, if any world leaders are calling on Mugabe to stay. Political stability and economic progress are the foundation of social harmony. Zimbabwe should attain these twin modest objectives sooner rather than later. And for that to happen, Mugabe must leave the scene.
Yours faithfully,
Clyde B Chakupeta
